I Became the Goddess of a New World

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Chapter 2: The Clash with the Elder Lich

There was a certain dissonance when I fought the Elder Lich to capture the scene we needed for the trailer.

Yes, compared to the Ancient Necromancer, who was a harbinger of destruction, the Elder Lich was undeniably stronger.

But somehow… the Elder Lich’s attack patterns felt a bit simpler, if that makes any sense?

“Originally, I was supposed to gather beta testers and receive feedback…”

It felt as if I had unwittingly taken on QA duty myself.

“Akachan, could you summon the Elder Lich one more time?”

“Understood.”

I had smashed the Elder Lich’s raid map with a meteorite, but it didn’t matter.

This was just a virtual version of one of Akachan’s many records.

To put it in gaming terms, it was akin to a test server, or test world.

That’s why I unleashed the meteor on the Elder Lich without hesitation.

“By the way, Akachan, there wasn’t a scene of me dropping a meteor in the trailer. Was that a deliberate removal?”

In response to my question, Akachan nodded.

She explained that the filming map got obliterated the moment the meteor collided, making it impossible to capture.

“So please refrain from using meteors.”

“Got it.”

There was a bit of injustice in that.

A legendary being, a transcender of death, the king of all the deceased.

How could such a being be obliterated by a mere meteor?

“If it were the Ancient Necromancer, he would have instantly created a Corpse Golem, floated it with Reverse Gravity, and used a corpse explosion to counterattack.”

Literally, if I were up against the Ancient Necromancer, he would have countered the meteor in that manner.

In contrast, the Elder Lich felt somewhat less intelligent? Like a little brat with raw power.

Of course, it would be foolish to make definitive judgments based on just one battle.

So now I was asking Akachan for a rematch.

-How dare you oppose the transcender of death… Grrr!

Defeating an opponent that had already been conquered once was remarkably easy.

“Akachan, is it possible to grant the record of the Ancient Necromancer to that Elder Lich?”

“…Possible. However, a harbinger of destruction will be born.”

A harbinger of destruction.

Had I still been a hero in this world, I would have certainly hesitated.

“That level of difficulty is necessary.”

This is merely a game.

If the final raid boss’s difficulty is too low, the fun factor drops significantly.

I wanted others to feel the devastating experience I had when I first faced a harbinger of destruction.

“There’s a saying, ‘From a distance, it’s a comedy; up close, it’s a tragedy,’ right?”

Having personally confronted a harbinger of destruction, I had experienced the tragedy.

Yet, defeating that harbinger through the game would become a valuable experience.

“Then I will summon the Elder Lich by substituting its soul with the record of the Ancient Necromancer.”

“Mm… Sounds good.”

Stretching before the battle, a peculiar sense of exhilaration followed.

-Here…

The atmosphere shifted in an instant as the Elder Lich slowly raised its head.

Given its enormous size, it had to look down at me.

-That magical power. That detestable frame. You are…!

“Do you remember me?”

It was fascinating—this mere pile of records remembered me.

-Gender. Speech patterns. Atmosphere. All different, but…

Boom—

It stood up.

Its eyes flickered with burning hatred.

-You are that girl. Aurora.

“It’s been a while.”

Aurora.

The name my master had bestowed upon me, a name befitting a mage who possessed compatibility with all attributes.

‘I complained about how feminine the name was back then…’

I never imagined that Crazy Demon King Kressari would actually turn me into a girl.

Now shaking off those memories of the past that had become mere echoes, I surveyed the surroundings.

The overall atmosphere of the meeting hall was drenched in darkness, denying life.

This was a pattern the Elder Lich had also displayed, but the difference in versatility was overwhelming.

Boom—!!!

The undead rising from the black sludge exploded instantly.

Even if you escaped the range of the explosion, the same thing would happen.

A merciless barrage of explosions that didn’t even give the opponent a chance to counterattack.

It demonstrated through action why it was considered a harbinger of destruction.

An explosive light, a killing light, a madman consumed by battle.

Was the reason it became a necromancer simply to engage in eternally endless combat?

-I could not close my eyes even in death. The only reason being that I lost to you!

Although a human, it alone had swept away half of the Imperial Army; now it had acquired the Elder Lich’s body.

It was as if it had sprouted wings, embodying the very thing I defined as a ‘harbinger of destruction.’

“The difficulty may be a bit too high, so if we could nerf some of its patterns…”

If the game’s difficulty is overly hard, it might lead to a loss of motivation for gamers.

If that happened, they might give up trying and quit the game altogether.

That was something I wanted to avoid at all costs, so I meticulously conducted my solo QA.

“A chain reaction explosion is too overpowered…”

-You are crazier than me…

You can’t possibly be crazier.

Swallowing that thought, I conducted QA for about ten hours.

Eventually, the Ancient Necromancer I had previously conquered declared surrender.

To be precise, it shattered its Life Vessel with its own hands and fled to the resting place called death.

“Akachan. You recorded everything, right?”

*Nods*

But even death falls within the domain of the Akashic Record.

If one were to compare it to a game, it was akin to a save & load feature.

At any moment I wanted, I could summon the Ancient Necromancer, who was just recently being debugged.

“Mm.”

While it was true that I had a bit of trauma regarding the Ancient Necromancer,

spending ten hours joyfully slaying it made that trauma feel completely washed away.

You, absolutely are a joke.

“Scary Master.”

“……”

Akachan.

Hearing you say that also tugs at my heartstrings.

***

[Indie Minor Game Gallery]

In-game Gallery.

That place was brimming with buzz about the ‘Akashic Record’ just like yesterday, today too.

The first distributed virtual reality developed by a domestic unknown game company, methods of applying for the Akashic Record beta test, who would win in a fight between a mage and priest, etc…

The hype around the game known as ‘Akashic Record’ showed no sign of cooling down.

This was due to the title of being the ‘first virtual reality,’ generating a plethora of skeptics.

But what is a community after all?

Where there is light (skeptic), there is darkness (supporting).

It was a common occurrence for the buzz in the gallery to shift rapidly.

―――

These guys will believe anything, even superconductors, lol. [185]

That video is clearly edited, but the hype is just infuriating. [244]

If you can see the field for writing your home address for the beta test, don’t you get it? [123]

It’s so blatant that it’s a phishing attempt, but people are cheering, so I was curious. [359]

The moment you apply, your money is snatched away, haha. [219]

Somehow, I feel like it was made by that ‘nation.’ [83]

―――

The rapidly rising criticisms shared a common argument: ‘Phishing.’

The basis was that the unknown game company behind the Akashic Record was a phantom company, having not even registered to the stock market.

If it’s not a phantom company, there should be no reason to keep the game company’s name in the dark.

Of course, the claim that the unknown game company behind the Akashic Record was a phantom company was merely a brain theory without any fact checking.

However, it was a plausible claim, and, more than anything, it seemed like an entertaining piece of gossip.

Most of those lurking in the in-game gallery were inclined to hop onto the bandwagon, supporting posts related to the controversy.

Thus, the generated sentiment against the phishing narrative seized control of the in-game gallery.

This was the pivotal reason why only posts criticizing the Akashic Record were ascending to the top.

And this situation in the in-game gallery spread through various media.

Starting from other community sites.

The streamer, REKKA, who was active on YouTube, began to dive into the topic.

Streamer Master Kim, who typically avoided controversies related to the community, was actively handling various pieces of gossip instead.

“What do you think about the hot topic of the moment, ‘Akashic Record’?”

Master Kim, unlike other streamers dodging community-related gossip, was known for addressing it head-on.

His streaming style was characterized by often making bold statements that could potentially be problematic in societal norms and had a unique knack for scratching the itches of those frequenting specific communities.

“If you see this summary, a ‘first virtual reality’ game is about to be released. To be precise, first they are gathering beta testers, and then there will be a one-month testing phase before the official release. There’s an official site as well, detailing everything from the lore to what classes there are. Oh, an RPG genre? You guys know I absolutely love RPGs, right? But we should know how to separate public and private matters…”

Master Kim proceeded with the broadcast according to the pre-prepared script.

The first appearance of the Akashic Record, the excitement of the in-game gallery users, the first virtual reality, the domestic unknown game company. The sudden accusation of phishing. The silence of the game company regarding the controversy.

He captured key phrases and smoothly unraveled the narrative to engage the audience’s focus.

“…So in summary, that’s where we’re at with the current situation. What do you guys think? Is the Akashic Record really a large-scale phishing scam?”

―――

I read through the post, and it was clearly phishing.

Just say superconductors are real or something.

Yet, watching the video, it does look convincing.

I came over from the in-game gallery, lol.

This guy is just dangling the viewers along again.

―――

Master Kim checked the number of viewers for his stream.

4,331 viewers.

With an average viewership of about 2,000, that meant he had more than twice that amount watching him.

Thus, Master Kim found himself conflicted over the script he had prepared.

‘Akashic Record is real.’

The situation where what he believed clashed with public sentiment.

If he were to vocalize a statement contrary to the prevailing opinion here,

it was plainly obvious what the repercussions would be.

‘I’m not blindly believing it.’

The primary arena for the Akashic Record gossip is the indie minor game gallery.

Originally, it was a place where gamers with hipster inclinations gathered.

However, recently, in the wake of the Akashic Record gossip, there had been an increase in external newcomers.

In fact, there were developers of indie minor games who inhabited the in-game gallery from the very beginning.

In other words, the current sentiment isn’t representative of the original in-game gallery.

‘The controversy itself is quite absurd.’

Upon double-checking, Master Kim found that the game company behind the Akashic Record was not a phantom company.

It hadn’t simply listed, but that was a detail which could easily be found through a brief search.

‘And it reeks of something fishy.’

The intensity and speed of public opinion regarding the controversy were strikingly abnormal.

It felt as if a certain faction was attempting to bury the emergence of the Akashic Record.

Surely, there must have been many others who have caught onto this reality apart from him.

Yet, they would stay silent out of fear of getting swept into the huge tidal wave of public sentiment.

‘This is an opportunity.’

The intuition of ‘REKKA’, who had survived in this sector for years, screamed within him.

Even if it meant a tumble into an abyss right now,

he was certain that he would ultimately enjoy paradise in the near future.

“Bold statement~”

That day, Master Kim faced streaming report terror and YouTube dislike terror as the price for his bold statement.

It was summer.

***

“Mm. So all this happened while I was away?”

“…Yes. That’s correct.”

Having been focused solely on developing the game and conducting internal QA, I hadn’t kept up with the community, yet my upcoming game, the Akashic Record, was being labeled as ‘phishing.’

Even more absurd was that the lack of response to the phishing controversy had cemented the controversy itself.

I took a moment to halt my development and invested a day to review the issues that had accumulated.

“The only streamer supporting the Akashic Record?”

Somebody was sticking their neck out even amidst all this uncertainty.

“Akachan, should we give this person priority in the beta testing?”

It was currently the recruitment period for beta testers. About a week remained.

If at this moment, they could experience virtual reality a week earlier than others?

Upon checking, I found out that the streamer, Master Kim, had also applied for the beta testing.

“I think that’s a good idea.”

“Understood.”

Now that Akachan had agreed, it was finally time to showcase to the world.

The first virtual reality and its game.